Page 18 of Seneca

“I never really felt at home, not after she died.But having you in the house this morning?It feels like home,reallylike home for the first time.”

She hugged him tightly with a soft purr that she knew only he’d be able to hear.“I totally feel the same way, Seneca.You’re home for me too.”

The day had flown by, and now, as Seneca got ready for their first date, he was more nervous than he’d expected.He wanted it to be perfect, for her to feel how much she already meant to him.

They got ready in different bedrooms so it would be as close to a real first date as possible.He’d picked a white button-down and a dark tie that had swirls of blue like her eyes.He hustled to finish before her so he could surprise her.

Leaving the bedroom, he hurried through the house and outside to where he’d stashed a bouquet of flowers in a vase, and then he walked back inside and stood in the family room.

His heart was pounding and his bear was growling in excitement.

He could hear Sunny in the master bedroom.

“I’m ready whenever you are, sweetheart,” he called.

“I’ll just be another minute.”

“Take your time.”

He rocked on his heels and looked down at the flowers.He’d asked Anke in the market to fix a bouquet of flowers for him to give to Sunny that included a vase because he didn’t have anything in the house to put flowers in.Anke had not only put together a beautiful arrangement from flowers in the greenhouses underground, but she’d found a pretty vase to put them in.The blue irises and white roses were perfect.

Not as perfect as his…holy crap.

Sunny walked out into the family room wearing a short black dress and heels, her long, dark blond hair curled around her shoulders.Her eyes were dancing, and her cheeks were pink.She was one stunning female.

And all his.

He opened his mouth to say how beautiful she looked, but his bear let out a growl instead and he chuckled.

“You look amazing, Sunny.So beautiful.”He held out the flowers and she joined him, taking them and smiling sweetly.

“These are so pretty, thank you.”She lifted onto her toes and kissed him, and he picked up the scent of her arousal coupled with her naturally sweet scent and everything inside him rioted against leaving the house at all.His bear wanted to carry her back to the bedroom and see how many times she could shout in pleasure.

But there would be time for that later.

She put the flowers on the coffee table and touched the petals of one of the roses gently.As she straightened, she took his hand.“Where are we going on our date?”

“It’s a little restaurant about twenty-five minutes away.My friend Justus told me about it.Are you ready?”

“You bet.”

They walked out of the house and across the room to the stairs to go topside.He told her that two lions from the security team were waiting for them in the employee lot and would be following in a vehicle.

“How long have you had to use escorts?”she asked.

“A while.It hasn’t happened too often, but a few times in the past we’ve had shifter groups come against us for one reason or another and have tried to get to our people.So we use unmarked vehicles for non-park trips and ensure that there’s an escort so no one goes anywhere alone.”

“That’s smart,” she said.“I’m glad it’s safe here.”

As they walked through the park toward the employee lot, he noticed she’d gone quiet.Once they were in the park’s unmarked SUV and on the way to the restaurant, followed by Amadeus and Xavier, he said, “Are you okay?You got really quiet.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.But you can tell me anything.I’ve got two good ears.”

She let out a low sound, half laugh, half sigh.“As happy as I am to have you in my life, to be here in the park with you and your people, I miss Fallon and Sera.I don’t miss the prowl exactly, but that part of my life feels like it was sawed off and hasn’t healed yet.While I was getting ready, I kept thinking that I couldn’t wait to tell Fallon about our date, or have Sera do my hair for me, but it was just me and I couldn’t tell them anything.I have you, which is amazing, but I don’t have them and I hate that I can’t even freaking send a text without worrying that they’ll be punished.And mostly I feel really shitty for missing them when I have you and you’re my soulmate, and I should feel so, so grateful to be with you.”Her voice got heavy as she spoke, and his heart ached for her.

He reached for her hand and linked their fingers.